Business Technology Categories

Advertising, Sales & Marketing

Best Campaign Management Platform

Recognizes the best platform that helps companies manage their marketing and advertising. The platform may include integrated planning, execution and attribution, and campaign management that enables the user to adjust/ optimize advertising spend.

Judges will be looking for:

Analytics - How well does the solution provide analytics in regards to ad performance and provide real-time reporting and notification?

Budget/cost management – How well does the solution manage budget, bidding, price optimization for campaigns

Customization - How customizable is the solution to meet various customer needs?

Feature set - Does the solution have a deep set of features that appropriately meet the needs of its customers?

Integration - How well does the solution integrate with third-party applications, such as ad networks, social sites, e-commerce sites, etc.?

Mobile - How strong are the features for execution or follow up in the mobile application or via the mobile site?

Significance of innovation - How significant is the technological innovation of the solution?

Targeting - How well does the solution identify and target specific customer segments and engage decision makers?

Technology - How current is the technology of the solution in regards to real-time graphic display of data, metrics and results appropriate for internal client use?

Usability & UI - How easy is the solution to figure out and use? Can the user easily and efficiently interact with the product features? How easy is it for the user to achieve their desired result?

Video - How strong are the video advertising features for execution or follow up?

Workflow - How well is the solution embedded in the customers' workflow, organizing, creating and distributing ads and providing preconfigured reports, dashboards and metrics?

Best Content Marketing Solution

Recognizes the best solution for creating compelling and engaging content and distributing that content in a targeted manner across various media

Judges will be looking for:

Analytics - How well does the solution provide analytics and real-time reporting?

Compliance - Does the solution ensure that the content can be legally used?

Content curation - How well does the product facilitate discovery and procurement of custom content, or how well does the platform hire/manage freelancer and/or license existing, external content?

Distribution - How well does the solution disseminate content across multiple channels?

Integration – How well does the product integrate with other marketing apps (CRM, website analytics, etc.)

Segmentation - How well does the solution allow users to segment contacts?

Targeting - How well does the solution identify customer segments and engage them with their content interests?

Usability - Can the user easily and efficiently interact with the product features to achieve their desired result?

Workflow - How well is the solution embedded in the customers' workflow?

Best Marketing Solution

Recognizes the best solution that enables companies to target, measure, and market, products and services to reach consumers and customers online, on mobile devices and even off-line. Solutions can include (but not limited to) marketing tactics such as SEO, SEM, social media, display advertising, native advertising, content marketing automation, marketing management, campaign management and deployment, and mobile marketing.

Judges will be looking for:

Connection to contacts – The ability to facilitate connections with prospects, customers, etc.

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Lead generation – How well does the solution identify and drive leads?

Reporting and analytics – How robust are the dashboards and reports for analysis?

Visually aesthetic – Is the solution’s visual design beautiful, innovative, and visually appealing to the user?

Best Sales & Marketing Intelligence Solution

Recognizes the best sales & marketing intelligence solution, which empowers sales and marketing professionals with key data, insights and analytics to help drive business development and target potential sales prospects. Solutions may include B2B data, prospect databases, contact information, sales analytics and other tools used by sales and marketing professionals to more effectively uncover and target new opportunities within their existing customer base.

Judges will be looking for:

Analytics - How well does the solution provide analytics?

Campaign creation - How easy is it to create outbound marketing campaigns?

Customization - How customizable is the solution to meet various customer needs?

Feature set - Does the solution have a deep set of features that appropriately meet the needs of its customers?

Integration - How well does the solution integrate with third-party platforms that would be used in lead generation?

Lead augmentation - How well does the solution append missing or additional information to a lead or data file, either from its own data set or from a third-party provider?

Lead management - How well does the solution manage multi-channel lead generation campaigns?

Lead management/ reporting - How quickly and efficiently can the solution respond and deliver relevant data/information for lead generation?

Targeting - How well does the solution identify, score and target specific customer segments and pass on top leads?

Usability and UI - How easy is it for the user to achieve their desired result? Is it mobile friendly?

Workflow - How well is the solution embedded in the customers' workflow?

Business Management

Best Application Programming Interface (API) Management Platform

Recognizes the best platform that creates a centralized API architecture that makes the process of making, securing, deploying and managing high-performance interfaces significantly simpler and more consistent.

Judges will be looking for:

Analytics and Statistics – Does it give you insights into how people use your API?

Developer Engagement – Does the platform help you effectively engage with your API customers, developer and partners

Documentation – does the platform provide an easy way to read the documentation, enabling developers

Monetization – capability to monetize your API

Overall performance – Is the platform reliable, scalable and redundant?

Range and Ease of Deployment – Is it flexible and support a range of deployment options

Security – How secure is the API’s data? Does it provide for secure identity and access management?

Best Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning Solution

Recognizes the product, tool or solution best able to augment human intelligence and better automate tasks for the user. The winning solution will have incorporated machine and deep learning algorithms into their everyday functionality and may include solutions that solve a specific problem or a variety of functions. The category is open to API, SaaS and hardware solutions. Examples may include but are not limited to visual, data analysis (structured and unstructured text, images, audio, video, etc.) decision making by understanding a user's personality, tone, and emotion; and translation between languages (including speech).

Judges will be looking for:

Automation of functions - how well does the solution save the user time and energy, making their job simpler, and allowing employees to work more efficiently and productively? How well does the AI have the ability to do things humans can't do? i.e. searc

Content depth and accuracy - Are the measures and metrics appropriate for measuring and understanding content consumption, activity and overall use? Does this product address the depth of information required to serve the audience?

data analysis – How well does the solution interpret structured and unstructured text, images, audio, video, etc.? Skip if N/A.

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the audience?

Interoperability - Where appropriate, can this product be integrated with other relevant systems OR can the content and/or data within the product be exported?

Learn - How well does the system grow subject matter expertise in your apps/ systems? To what extent does the system get smarter over time? Skip if N/A.

Platform flexibility and accessibility - Is the solution made available through the delivery platforms appropriate to the target audience and use?

Reasoning personalized recommendations - How well does the tool understand/ interpret a user's personality, tone, and emotion? Skip if N/A

Usability - Can the user easily and efficiently interact with the product features to achieve their desired result or retrieve reports or gain access? How well does the system enable human experts to provide input on training or data, so that the AI is ev

Best Billing & Subscription Management Solution

Recognizes the best solution to help companies manage all aspects of the subscription lifecycle. Subscription management includes onboarding, assisted or unassisted subscription sales, pricing and packaging, recurring billing, auto-renewing, paywall management, invoicing, reporting, and financial management.

Judges will be looking for:

Administrative tools – How robust are the administrative tools?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Global support – How well does the solution support multiple languages, currencies, etc.?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Integration – How easily does the solution integrate with other systems?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for analysis?

Scalability – Does the solution have the ability to scale up or down?

Security – How robust are the security features?

Best Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution

Recognizes the best cloud platform for collecting, storing, managing and interpreting data from many business activities. Can include but is not limited to finance, inventory management, HR functions, product planning, purchasing, manufacturing, and service delivery.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization – Strength of customization capabilities

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Interoperability - Can this product be integrated with other relevant systems?

Mobile Functionality - Is the tool available on mobile devices? How easy is it to use while on the go/ to view on a small screen?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for analysis?

Best Collaboration Solution

Recognizes the best application that aids collaboration, communication, filesharing and the process of problem solving for teams working together over geographic distances.

Judges will be looking for:

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Flexibility of deployment – How well does the solution reach any work, in any location, on any device, over all networks?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Integration with other systems – How well does the solution integrate into the current infrastructure?

Best Content Intelligence Solution

Recognizes the best solution for monitoring, analyzing and drawing insights from a wide range of content, including news, opinions and conversations. The best solution will capture content across various forms of digital and traditional media, including web, mobile, social, TV, print, etc. The best solution will be "live" with active customers, engaging them through innovative approaches to dealing with comments and ease of sharing with others. Nominees should ideally provide access to the platform and demos are preferable and should highlight how the solution provides value to their customers and is differentiated from other solutions in the market. Nominees should also indicate if they specialize in a certain industry/vertical and/or specific media channels.

Judges will be looking for:

Content depth and accuracy - Is the content accurate and timely for the stated use case? Does this product address the depth of information required to serve the audience?

Customization or personalization - Is the level of customization/personalization appropriate to the audience and use case presented?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the audience and use case indicated in previous criteria?

Groundbreaking & significance of innovation - Is the solution likely to cause groundbreaking change for its users?

Search capabilities - how robust are the search capabilities of the solution? How easy is it for the user to find the information they need?

Significance of innovation - How significant is the technological innovation of the solution? Is it groundbreaking to users?

Usability - Can the user easily and efficiently interact with the product features, content, etc.? How easy is it for the user to achieve their desired result?

Best Content Management Platform

Recognizes the best tool, platform or service that allows users to sort through vast amounts of content and present it in a meaningful and organized way. Solutions allow users to arrange, display, collect, organize, co-create, share and manipulate content.

Judges will be looking for:

Automation - How well does the platform let you automate certain activities?

Collaboration - How well does the platform allow you to collaborate with other curators or co-create content?

Customization/ personalization - Is the level of customization appropriate to the audience? Since personalization can mean more than customization, I would ask this in a different way, or add a new question like: Can the platform be customized to meet the

Extensibility and integration - How easy is it for an enterprise to enhance the platform and/or plug it into existing content creation/distribution platforms?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the audience?

Platform curation flexibility - Is the platform capable of curating anything with a URL or is it limited to a few different tools?

Share - Does the platform make it easy to share and manipulate content?

Usability - Can the user easily achieve their desired results?

Best Content Search, Discovery & Analytics Solution

Recognizes the best search technology that delivers added context to end users and drives a more productive, intuitive search experience by leveraging ontologies, taxonomies, semantic analytics, text data mining and industry or application specific concepts across data, text, geography and time for both structured and unstructured content sets.

Judges will be looking for:

Content set and data Integration - Is the solution easy to integrate with a range of content and datasets?

Customization/ personalization - Is the level of customization/personalization appropriate to the audience and use case presented?

Faceted search capabilities - Does the system allow you to explore information by applying multiple filters?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the audience and use case indicated? (Consider: multi-language support, stemming, and other advanced search features, etc.)

Flexibility & accessibility - Is the product optimized to be used on various platforms? Can the platform deliver various types of content?

Taxonomies – Is the product able to leverage taxonomies to drive search relevance and offer users refinement and filtering capabilities?

Usability - Can the user easily and efficiently interact with the product features to achieve their desired result?

Best Corporate / Enterprise Learning Solution

Recognizes the best platform, service or provider that supports the efforts of organizations (business, government, academia) to educate employees about specific knowledge that aids in the successful execution of an employee's job. Includes applications that educate on internal processes, practices, expectations and objectives of workplace assignments.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the learning solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Positive impact - Could the system produce a positive impact on course development and implementation and/or the learning process?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best Customer Relationship Management Solution

Recognizes the best software solution designed to expand a company's knowledge about, and relationship with, its current or potential customers and/or partners. Includes CRM, PRM, SFA, marketing automation, personalization products and services.

Judges will be looking for:

Ease of use –How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Integration of data sources – How easily and quickly does the solution integrate with other data sources?

Mobile access – Is the tool available on mobile devices? How easy is it to use while on the go/ to view on a small screen?

Overall performance – Does the solution perform at adequate speed, security, and reliability?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for analysis?

Speed of updates – Does the solution provide timely and speedy updates?

Visually aesthetic – Is the application’s visual design beautiful, innovative, and visually appealing to the user?

Best Customer Service Solution

Recognizes the best tool, platform, or service that helps businesses enhance their customer service and support. Includes help-desk services, live chat, social media tools, technology enabled service providers, etc. Note that it is helpful to provide solution access to the judges during the review period for this category.

Judges will be looking for:

Ease of use –How well does the product or service allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily, cheaply, and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Integration of data sources – How easily and quickly does the solution integrate with other data sources?

Overall performance – Does the solution perform at adequate speed, security, scalability, and reliability? Is it able to site statistics proving speed, security and reliability?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for data analysis?

Support – What level of support does the tool provide?

Visually aesthetic – Is the application’s visual design beautiful, innovative, and appealing to the user?

Data validation – How much visibility does the solution provide into the data quality?

Development tools –How robust and easy to use are the development tools? How easy is it for non-techies to create effective data visualizations/graphics? Does the tool have any intelligence capabilities to help the novice user?

Ease of use –How aesthetically pleasing is the visualized data? What is the range of visual templates available for users?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Mobile access – Is the tool available on mobile devices? How easy is it to use while on the go/ to view on a small screen?

Personalization – Can the user personalize their data experience to fit their roles, responsibilities and preferences?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for data analysis?

Visually aesthetic – Is the application’s visual design beautiful, innovative, and appealing to the user?

Best Emerging Technology

Recognizes best emerging technology product, tool or solution that is solving a big problem, changing the status quo and opening up new opportunities. Products must be less than three years old or has put out a new version that includes new technology that is controversial and/ or relatively underdeveloped in potential.

Judges will be looking for:

Coherence – Does the technology have integrated wholes that can maintain themselves over some period of time?

Disruption – the potential to disrupt the market in the future. The potential to disrupt the market in the future by creating new technology, new delivery methods, new business models or new audience/user community.

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use. The goals should be clearly defined for the targeted market with an examples of new user methods for adopt

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described? Does the functionality support the attributes in new or disruptive ways?

Prominent Impact – To what degree does the technology represent progressive developments within a field for competitive advantage, extensive adoption and market reach.

Radical Novelty – Are there features not previously observed in systems? Are there new inventions, patents or business methods that support the novelty? These features should be clearly articulated with examples of the disruption to the market or clear ou

Best Event Management Solution

Recognizes the best solution for managing the production and execution for events. Includes registration, payment processing, sponsor and attendee management, event marketing, reporting, event program, budgeting, etc.

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Integration of data sources – How easily and quickly does the solution integrate with other data sources?

Overall performance – Does the solution perform at adequate speed, security, and reliability?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for data analysis?

Scalability – Does the solution have the ability to scale up or down?

Visually aesthetic – Is the application’s visual design beautiful, innovative, and appealing to the user?

Best Financial Management Solution

Recognizes the best software solution that automates business accounting and money management including accounts payable/receivable, general ledger, budgeting, resource allocation, reporting, etc.

Judges will be looking for:

Disparate data sources - How well does the solution pull from disparate data sources?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Global support – How well does the solution support multiple languages, currencies, etc.?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Manipulation of data – How well does the solution allow for manipulation of data for reporting?

Mobile access – Is the tool available on mobile devices? How easy is it to use while on the go/ to view on a small screen?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for analysis?

Visually aesthetic – Is the application’s visual design beautiful, innovative, and appealing to the user?

Best FinTech Solution

Recognizes the best solution to make financial services more efficient by demonstrating an incremental or radical/disruptive innovation development of applications, processes, products or business models in the financial services industry. This can include but is not limited to financing, insurance, investments, payments, advisory, security, etc.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization or personalization - Is the level of customization/personalization appropriate to the audience and use case presented?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the audience?

Interoperability - Where appropriate can this product be integrated with other relevant systems?

Platform Flexibility & Accessibility - Is the solution made available through the delivery platforms appropriate for the target audience?

Relevance to target audience - Does the product effectively solve a specific market need? Does the product transform a market sector? Does it enable a traditional financial institution to enter this market space through an outsourced solution?

Usability - Can the user easily and efficiently interact with the product features to achieve their desired result?

Best Human Capital or Talent Management Solution

Recognizes the best solution that automates any aspect of human resources management and talent acquisition, including HRIS, benefits administration, recruiting, payroll, and performance appraisal.

Judges will be looking for:

Disparate data sources - How well does the solution pull from disparate data sources?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Global support – How well does the solution support multiple languages, currencies, etc.?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Manipulation of data – How well does the solution allow for manipulation of data for reporting?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for analysis?

Visually aesthetic – Is the application’s visual design beautiful, innovative, and appealing to the user?

Best IoT Solution

Recognizes the best solution that offers advanced connectivity of devices, systems and services.

Judges will be looking for:

Actionable analysis – How well does the solution access and analyze relevant data that provides the foundation for specific actions?

Ease of use –How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Network connectivity – Does the solution support a range of networking interfaces and protocols to provide the necessary connectivity?

Normalization of Data – How well does the solution reduce the data to its canonical form?

Security – Does the solution have the necessary security to mitigate risk?

Visually aesthetic – Is the application’s visual design beautiful, innovative, and visually appealing to the user?

Best Logistics & Supply Chain Solution

Recognizes the best solution for coordination and collaboration with suppliers, intermediaries, third-party service providers, and customers in the movement and storage of materials and equipment; work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption.

Judges will be looking for:

Collaboration - How well does the tool allow users to collaborate with other partners?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Integration – How well does the solution integrate with other systems?

Inventory management – How efficiently does the solution allow you to track and manage inventory?

Logistics – How well are goods stored and distributed?

Order management – How efficiently does the solution allow you to generate and track sales orders?

Procurement – How well does the product manage activities and tasks surrounding sourcing, purchasing, and payables?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for analysis?

Best Payments Solution

Recognizes the best solution for passing authorization, payments, and settlement data between a merchant’s website and the merchant’s processor.

Judges will be looking for:

Billing – does the solution provide adequate billing options

Currency Support – Can the solution support multiple currencies?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use

Interoperability - Can this product be integrated with other relevant systems?

Overall performance – Does the solution perform at adequate speed, security, and reliability?

Reporting – the ability and ease to report transaction data

Security - Does the solution have the necessary security to mitigate risk?

Best Project Management Solution

Recognizes the best business solution that automates any aspect of managing project-based business activities. Includes estimation and planning, scheduling, cost control and budget management, resource allocation, collaboration, etc.

Judges will be looking for:

Collaboration capabilities – How well can project members collaborate seamlessly, regardless of location?

Document management – How well does the tool allow you to share files and documents with other project team members?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Overall performance - How well does the solution rank with regards to overall speed, security, and reliability?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for analysis?

Task management – how well does the solution allow users to define a task, assigning it, create a deadline and ensuring completion?

Best Sales Enablement Platform

Recognizes the best sales enablement platform, which equips sales teams with the right content and information for any interaction with a potential buyer through document automation and helps progress and accelerate the sales cycle. Sales enablement platforms may include content management solutions that allow sales teams to access all relevant and marketing-approved collateral from a central location, personalize materials for specific buyers and interactions, and uncovers data-backed insights into how that content is consumed.

Judges will be looking for:

Alignment - How well does the platform align marketing in sales in terms of sales content initiatives? How well does the platform provide marketing with data and information on how to iterate and improve sales content?

Analytics and reporting features - How well does the solution provide analytics and data-backed insight into content usage and effectiveness?

Collaboration features - How easy is it for sales reps to collaborate with others on presentations and pitches to buyers? What content annotation and mark-up tools are available to reps?

Compliance features - Does the platform ensure that content remains compliant when used within heavily regulated industries?

Customization/personalization features - How well does the platform enable sales reps to customize content based for specific interactions and individuals while ensuring that the content remains on-brand and updated?

Distribution features - How many ways does the platform allow the rep to distribute content to a buyer? How robust and innovative are the distribution methods available to the rep?

Feedback and coaching features - Does the platform allow for sales teams to provide feedback and coaching on presentation and pitch preparation, either through video or other annotation featured?

Integration features - How well does the platform integrate with third-party platforms that would be used in a buying cycle? Such platforms include CRM, content creation, marketing automation, and other content repositories solutions.

Outcomes – Rate the application on the stated business outcomes. Does it deliver on its promise of a compelling value proposition to customers and end users?

Permission protocols - How easy is it to set up permissions and authorization rules prior to content being approved?

Technological advancement – Does the application make appropriate of advanced technologies to deliver a superior experience to the customer?

Usability and UX - How easy is it for the user to achieve their desired result? Is it mobile friendly?

Version control - How easy is it to locate and find prior versions of content?

Workflow features - How well is the solution embedded in the customers' workflow? Does the platform exist within other environments that sales reps used most often (e.g. Salesforce, email platforms)?

Best Social Media Solution

Recognizes the best solution for managing and monitoring social media campaigns, building and engaging customers, and collecting and analyzing data, across multiple social networks.

Judges will be looking for:

Campaign management - How well does the solution allow you to manage social media campaigns?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Engagement capabilities – How well does the solution allow users to effectively engage with prospects, customers, and other networks?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Monitoring and tracking of activity – How well does the solution monitor and track various types of social activity?

Reporting and analysis of data – How robust are the dashboards and reports for analysis?

Robustness of publishing features – How easy to use are the publishing features? How fast are they?

Data & Analytics

Best Big Data Reporting & Analytics Solution

Recognizes the best solution for reporting and analyzing actionable intelligence from massive data sets containing a variety of data types.

Judges will be looking for:

Collaboration – How easily can you share dashboards and reports, and/or integrate into other formats / platforms / reporting tools?

Data management – How well does the solution provide insight into the quality of the data?

Ease of use –How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Integration – Can the solution easily integrate data from a variety of sources?

Manipulation of data – How well does the solution allow for manipulation of data for reporting?

Reporting and Analytics – How robust are the dashboards and reports for analysis? Does it provide interactive analysis, reporting and visualization?

Security and auditing – How robust are the security and auditing features?

Best Big Data Tools & Platform

Recognizes the best platform for enabling organizations in developing, deploying, operating and managing a big data infrastructure/environment.

Judges will be looking for:

Data I/O performance – How quickly and reliably is the data transferred to/from devices or resources?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Performance management – How well does the platform allow you to track, monitor and drive performance?

Real-time processing – Does the platform or tool have the ability to process the data and produce results within certain time constraints?

Scalability – How well can the system adapt to increased demand?

Best Business Intelligence Reporting & Analytics Solution

Recognizes the best solution for reporting and analyzing data into useful information for business purposes.

Judges will be looking for:

Content depth and accuracy - Is the content accurate and timely for the stated use case? Does this product address the depth of information required to serve the audience?

Customization or personalization - Is the level of customization/personalization appropriate to the audience and use case presented?

Self-service Data Preparation – Does it allow business analysts to perform data preparation and analysis without having to rely on IT?

Usability - Can the user easily and efficiently interact with the product features to achieve their desired result?

Best Business Intelligence Tools & Platforms

Recognizes the best platform for enabling enterprises to build BI into their applications by providing analysis, information delivery and platform integration.

Judges will be looking for:

Data performance – How quickly and reliably is the data transferred to/from devices or resources?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Integration – Can the solution easily integrate data from a variety of sources?

Performance management – How well does the platform allow you to track, monitor and drive performance?

Scalability – Is the infrastructure scalable?

Best Content Analytics Solution

Recognizes the best content and data analytics solution that helps providers understand content utilization and performance data. Nominees may submit analytics solutions that include proprietary platforms and algorithmic software that measure, evaluate and analyze content and performance data. May include mobile tracking and analytics.

Judges will be looking for:

Content depth and accuracy - Are the measures and metrics appropriate for measuring and understanding content consumption, activity and overall use? Does this product address the depth of information required to serve the audience?

Customization or personalization -Can the tool/platform be customized for each user to demonstrate desired/needed analytics and reports?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the audience?

Interoperability - Where appropriate, can this product be integrated with other relevant systems OR can the content and/or data within the product be exported?

Platform flexibility and accessibility - Is the solution made available through the delivery platforms appropriate to the target audience and use?

Usability - Can the user easily and efficiently interact with the product features to achieve their desired result or retrieve reports or gain access?

Best Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)

Recognizes the best solution designed to integrate disparate applications, operating systems, data, and/or business processes used within an organization in order to simplify and automate their use and eliminate silos of information and functionality through dashboards or other approaches.

Judges will be looking for:

Cost – What impact does cost have on deployment?

Customization – Is the solution customizable?

Data validation – How much visibility does the solution provide into the data quality?

Development tools –How robust and easy to use are the development tools?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Endpoint control – How robust are the tools to ensure endpoints comply with policy?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Integration –How easy is it to integrate the solution with other solutions?

Reporting – Is the reporting clear and effective?

Security – How well does the solution stop targeted attacks and advanced threats?

Speed of performance – Does the solution quickly scan, identify and eliminate threats?

Supported Platforms – is the solution supported by a wide range of server and device platforms?

Best Identity & Access Security Solution

Recognizes the best solution that enables the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times and for the right reasons.

Judges will be looking for:

Access security – How well does the solution secure corporate resources from a variety of less secure access points (i.e. mobile devices)?

Administrative tools – Are the administrative tools robust?

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Integration – How well does the solution integration with established infrastructures?

Reporting and auditing – Does the solution have advanced reporting and auditing capabilities?

Scalability – Can the solution easily scale up and down?

Best Network Security Solution

Recognizes the best solution for preventing and monitoring unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-accessible resources. Includes firewall, intrusion prevention and detection, unified threat management, VPN, etc.

Judges will be looking for:

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Monitoring and control – How well does the solution perform URL filtering, web application monitoring, anti-virus and anti-malware scanning, etc.?

Network protection – How well does the solution detect network attack traffic?

Robustness of firewall – How robust is the firewall?

VPN connection – Can you connect to multiple sites securely using the VPN? From remote locations? For purpose of management?

Mobile Application

Best Mobile Development Solution

Recognizes the best tool or resource for designing, creating or testing mobile applications. Includes programming language, toolkits, diagnostic programs, IDE, applet and plug-in development tools, database development programs, etc.

Judges will be looking for:

Agility – Can the solution make frequent updates and provide rapid response to change requests?

Deployment – How easy is it to deploy an app built with the product on multiple platforms.

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Maintainability –Does the solution have the ability to analyze, test, and change aspects as needed?

Performances and monitoring – How the product support performances monitoring and crashes report.

Portability – Does the solution have the ability to adapt to different environments includes building, transferring and reinstalling programs?

Range of platforms covered – Does the solution have the ability to develop for a large range of mobile platforms and devices?

Usability – How easy is it to understand, learn and operate the tool or resource?

Network & Systems

Best Blockchain Solution

Recognizes the best solution for facilitating secure online transactions, where some digital ledger records transactions across many computers in such a way that the registered transactions cannot be altered retroactively. Can include applications and solutions, middleware and services and infrastructures and protocols, etc.

Judges will be looking for:

Data Integrity - Records are guaranteed to be cryptographically secure, with no possibility of bad actors threatening data integrity.

Decentralization – ability to store data across its network

Permissions Control

Scalability - The ability to secure trillions of transactions or records without compromising the networks synchronization, security, accessibility or data integrity.

Security - Support for data encryption and the management and enforcement of complex permission settings for participants and third parties.

Best Cloud Management Solution

Recognizes the best solution that ensures cloud computing resources are working optimally. This can include performance monitoring, application management, security and compliance, storage, and disaster recovery.

Automation of workflows - - How well does the platform let you automate certain activities? How well does the solution improve workflow? Does the solution have the ability to automate workflow of frameworks specific to IT service support?

Ease of use - – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Scalability - How well can the solution scale up and down?

Security - How secure is the tool? Are there adequate security measures? How robust is the security of infrastructure? Does it provide for secure identity and access management?

Best Platform as a Service

Recognizes the best platform as a service (PaaS) that increases the speed of development of applications, reduces cost of development, automates deployment, and provides flexibility and scalability. This includes enablement capabilities.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization – How easy is it to create, configure and deploy the service without requiring programming expertise?

Ease / speed of provisioning – Can the platform be easily and quickly prepared and equipped for use?

Integration – Can the platform integrate with web services and databases via common standards?

Multi-tenant architecture – Is the platform multi-tenant? Can multiple concurrent users utilize the same development application?

Programmable user interface – Does the solution have the ability to construct flexible user interfaces?

Scalability – Can the solution easily scale up and down?

Support – What level of support is provided for the development teams?

Best Ransomware Removal Tool

Recognizes the best tool for scanning and wiping out any ransomware attempts.

Judges will be looking for:

Ability to decrypt files that have been encrypted

Ability to remove ransomware viruses

Reliability

Scanning Capability

Threat Reporting

Best Software Defined Infrastructure

Recognizes the best technical computing infrastructure entirely under the control of software with no operator or human intervention.

Best Healthcare Technology Solution

Ease of use – How well does the product allow users to achieve goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use?

Functionality of key attributes – Do the key attributes function as described?

Implementation – How easily and quickly can the solution be implemented?

Overall impact on costs – Does the solution have a positive impact costs?

Overall performance – Is the solution reliable and does it run at an optimal speed?

Workflow improvement – How well does the solution integrate into and/or improve existing workflows?

Best Insurance Solution

Recognizes the best solution designed specifically for insurance agencies and agents. Can include solutions for insurers, brokers, property and casualty, life, pension and annuities, reinsurance and retirement markets, etc.

Judges will be looking for:

Account and contract management

Activity tracking and management

Quote and policy issuing capability

Reporting and Analytics

Speed and flexibility

User interface

Best Legal Solution

Recognizes the best information-based solution designed for the legal professional. Nominees may submit solutions that provide access to legal research information, business & practice performance / productivity / development tools, as well as litigation support, workflow, and e-discovery solutions.

Judges will be looking for:

Content depth and accuracy - Is the content accurate and timely for the stated use case? Does this product address the depth of information required to serve the audience?

Customization or personalization - Is the level of customization/personalization appropriate to the audience and use case presented?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the audience and use case indicated in previous criteria?

Interoperability - Where appropriate with respect to the audience and use case, can this product be integrated with other relevant systems OR can the content and/or data within the product be exported?

Platform flexibility and accessibility - Is the solution made available through the delivery platforms appropriate to the target audience?

Demand planning and forecasting - ability to keep on top of anticipated demand and ensure there is enough supply to satisfy customer needs

Inventory Management

Material requirements planning – ability to automate the front end of the production process

Product life cycle management – ability to organize all manufacturing information around to the designing, producing, supporting and disposing of manufactured goods

Production planning and scheduling – Ability to create production schedules, including reviewing inventory levels, tracking lead times and making build-versus-buy decisions.

Purchasing – ability to source, track, and manage orders from the various vendors and suppliers they deal with

Quality control

Scalability

Education Technology Categories

Corporate

Best Corporate / Workforce Learning Management Solution

Recognizes the best platform, service or provider that supports the efforts of organizations (business, government, academia) to educate employees about specific knowledge that aids in the successful execution of an employee's job. Includes applications that educate on internal processes, practices, expectations and objectives of workplace assignments.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the learning solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Positive impact - Could the system produce a positive impact on course development and implementation and/or the learning process?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Digital Service or Product

Best Collaborative Social Media Solution for Educators

Recognizes the online solution designed to provide social learning, collaborative and community support for PK-12 or higher education faculty and administration. Includes tools for communication, professional learning experiences, resource centers, collaboration and planning tools and other interactive, social media solutions.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization - To what extent does the solution support customization by the educator user?

Design - To what extent is the web design effective, easy-to-use and support educators with different learning styles?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to teaching, or access to new tools with high user interest?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Positive impact - Could the system produce a positive impact on the education community and/or the learning process?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the educator interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best Data Solution

Recognizes the best software or digital service that applies data analytics to inform teaching and learning, retention and growth strategies or administrative decision-making. Includes dynamic, predictive and post hoc uses of data.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of data, user needs and business outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of business users?

Navigation - Can the user easily and efficiently navigate through the solution and interact with the key features?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for intended users?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best Digital Aggregation & Sharing Solution

Recognizes the best digital platform for educators to gather, describe and share resources of all online sources and formats (websites, videos, applications, files, images, etc.). Designed for the PK-12 or higher education markets, the tool allows users to curates content for customized collections that can be shared with students, parents and other educators.

Judges will be looking for:

Accessibility- Can the user search collections created by other users? Can you log into your account from any location to update and monitor?

Customization - How easily can the user organize collections for specific groups (students, parents, etc.) and communicate their availability, or schedule group updates.

Navigation - How easily can the user navigate through the solution and interact with the key features.

Searchability - Is the content searchable by multiple terms including grade level, standard, subject and topic?

Shareability - How easily can the user share collections with others through various means such as e-mail and social media?

Standards alignment – Is the content aligned to instructional standards selected by the user?

Best eLearning Authoring / Development Tool for Educators/Trainers

Recognizes the best rapid authoring tool or digital service designed to give either instructional designers, trainers, educators, administrators or educational organizations the ability to create training content and/or educational web or mobile applications that can run on all modern devices and browsers for use by others. Includes applications that help build and deliver simulations, video-demonstrations, technology-enhanced items, lesson plans, project-based learning activities, learner resources interactive elements and assessments.

Judges will be looking for:

Capability set- Does the authoring tool support the creation of various kinds of eLearning - ranging from simulations to interactions, assessments, demos, and videos? Is the tool able to publish to multiple formats such as html5, flash, video?

Cost-benefit - To what extent it there a cost or benefit to the user developing an application compared to purchasing one?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of enterprises, user needs and administrative outcomes?

Navigation - Can the user easily and efficiently navigate through the solution and interact with the key features?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to the user of various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Productivity – To what extent does the tool help with increasing productivity and reducing effort in creating eLearning content for all devices?

Resources for beginners – Does the product include themes and an asset library to help new users create their first course with ease?

Scalability - Does the feature set scale to meet the needs of education users?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

User Community – Can users get help and support on demand?

Best Emerging Education Technology Solution for Administrators

Recognizes a new and innovative technology solution that is emerging to solve an an administrative problem for schools or campuses. This new tool could support administrators in their education management or communication functions. All nominated products in this category must be less than three years old.

Judges will be looking for:

Applicability - Is this tool truly applicable to administrative offices?

Disruption – Does the tool have the potential to disrupt the education market in the future? Disruption should include long-term benefits or new outcomes.

Efficacy - Does the technology incorporate recent research on administrative functions? These areas should be highlighted and show significant impact to achieve desired goals.

Impact – To what degree does the technology represent progressive developments within administrative functions for competitive advantage?

Innovation - Is this tool or its features actually new in its approach or implementation? Is there specific new, disruptive technology or methods that are clearly unique?

Relevance - Include examples of the area(s) that would benefit – such as scheduling, communications, inventory and budgeting. Usability - How easily and efficiently can users interact with the product features to achieve the desired result? The user commu

Results - Could this tool help administrators fulfill their functions more effectively and efficiently?

Best Enterprise Application Integration Solution

Recognizes the best new tool or tool set, including APIs, that ensures seamless interoperability and integration between applications, software, services and systems across the educational enterprise. Solution should promote standardization, demonstrate best practices in certification and within heterogeneous environments, and promote data security within frameworks of collaboration and programming transparencies.

Judges will be looking for:

ADA Compatibility - Does the tool follow guidelines and compliance with ADA mandates and UDL?

API - Do the APIs (application programming interfaces) for learning tools and platforms conform to the industry specification?

Certification - Does the tool provide evidence of best practices in the form of certification and compliance?

Development - Does the specification allow the seamless connection of web-based, externally hosted applications and content or tools to platforms that present them to users?

Efficacy - How effective is the tool at integrating third party content and products with virtual learning environments (VLEs)?

Integration - Can the API facilitate integration of new features into existing applications (a so-called "plug-in API")?

Learning Analytics - To what extent does the tool or tool set contribute to the generation of meaningful learning analytics to customers and end-users?

Methodology - Has the tool established a standard way of integrating educational data and/or rich learning applications and content?

Reporting - Are the reports customizable and intuitive?

Scalability - Does the tool provide solutions to issues found common browsers, third party cookies, IE zones and provides support for iframes/frames?

Security - How secure is the tool so that data is protected?

Sustainability - To what extent does the tool or tool set reduce or eliminate costs and barriers created by the lack of integration and interoperability?

Transformative Quality - To what extent does the tool or tool set contribute to the ed tech industry efforts to achieve high levels of system integration and interoperability?

Best Higher Ed Educational App for a Mobile Device

Recognizes the best curriculum or administrative native app, designed for the higher education market, that is delivered via smartphones or tablets.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - Can the student monitor their progress? Can the teacher monitor/track/print student progress?

Benefit - To what extent is there a benefit to the user in providing this solution on a mobile device over other platforms?

Customization - Is the app customizable for different types of mobile devices, user needs and outcomes?

Distribution - Is the app easily acquire/licensed and implemented by education institutions?

Innovation - Does the app incorporate recent research on screen design and user interests?

Navigation - Can the user easily and efficiently navigate through the app and interact with the key features?

Scalability - Does the feature set scale to meet the needs of education users?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the app's features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best Higher Education Cloud-Based Solution

Recognizes the best cloud-based solution that is always available to users regardless of location, is multi- platform and provides ubiquitous access to faculty, administration and students. Provides all applications and files for anywhere, anytime availability with an Internet connection, using devices at home or at school, from desktops to laptops to tablet or smartphones.

Judges will be looking for:

Cost-benefit - To what extent it there a cost-benefit to the user in providing the solution in the Cloud?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of enterprises, user needs and administrative outcomes?

Navigation - Can the user easily and efficiently navigate through the solution and interact with the key features?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for intended users?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best Higher Education Learning Content Solution

Recognizes the best personalized, multi-disciplinary teaching solution for curricula and content that is specifically targeted toward students in college (graduate and undergraduate) and trade/professional school learning environments. Includes solutions that deliver blended or custom-crafted materials, digitally on a number of devices. Helps students navigate their digital/ebooks and reference content in a format that fits the way they learn with interactive media, collaboration tools and course content.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the higher ed student?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content and courses, unique user needs and desired education outcomes?

Feedback - Do the learners receive feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Navigation - Can the student easily and efficiently navigate through the solution and interact with the key features?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, ebooks, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the higher ed student interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best Higher Education LMS or Learning Platform

Recognizes the best teaching and learning platform designed for higher education educators to manage content, student access and use, diagnostic and remediation programs, data management and reporting.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the student?

Customization - Is the learning platform customizable for different types of courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of education users?

Feedback - Do learners receive feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Positive impact - Could the system produce a positive impact on course development and implementation and/or the student learning process?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the higher ed faculty and administration?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best Learning Capacity-Building Solution

Recognizes the best tool for learners in PK-12 or higher education markets that can be used to increase attention, responsibility, independence and engagement in their learning tasks. Includes digital tools that use up-to-date research in learning sciences to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the learner’s skills, interest and time on task by optimizing engagement and supporting personalized instruction.

Judges will be looking for:

Applicability - How applicable is the tools for use in multiple curriculum areas or courses?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of using the tool?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning process or innovative approaches to teaching?

Learner measurements - How effectively will the measurements serve the individual needs of the learner or teacher of parent?

Positive impact - Could the system produce a positive impact on the education community and/or the learning process?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the student interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best Learning Relationship Management Solution

Recognizes the best digital service that manages and facilitates student-led learning to maximize learning engagement, achievement, outcome, retention and long-term success. The technology facilitates personalized learning, individualized learning paths and transparent relationships with student's support network critical to student outcomes and long-term success.

Judges will be looking for:

Communication - How well does the solution facilitate student-led communication with student support network (educators, administrators, parents/guardians, mentors, advisors, etc.)

Effectiveness - How effectively does the solution facilitate and support student-led learning?

Integration - How well does the solution integrate with existing Learning Management Systems and/or common curriculum and technology standards?

Reports - How well does the solution monitor student progress and adapt plans/learning paths in real-time based on student performance and/or behavior

System design - Does the solution grow and change with students over time, based on outcomes?

Best Mobile Learning Authoring Tool

Recognizes the best authoring tool or digital service designed to give either instructional designers, trainers, educators and administrators the ability to create mobile learning content for all types of devices such as desktops, tablets, mobile phones and for all browser types without any additional effort and without the need to learn any programming. Output content should be truly responsive and not just scalable HTML5.

Judges will be looking for:

App publish – Can courses be published as apps?

Cost-benefit - To what extent it there a cost or benefit to the user developing an application compared to purchasing one?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for specific screen sizes?

Ease of creation of mobile learning – Does the interface makes it simple to author mobile learning?

Free mobile theme and asset library - Will it be easy to beginners to create their first courses with ease?

Help and Support – Does the product provide online help and support on demand?

Innovation – Is this tool innovative in its approach?

Mobile Preview – Preview the course on a variety of screen sizes in authoring mode?

Navigation - Can the user easily and efficiently navigate through the solution and interact with the key features?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to cater to the learner on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile,) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Productivity – To what extent does the tool help with increasing productivity and reducing effort in creating eLearning content for all devices without authoring multiple times?

Publishing formats – Does the product have the ability to publish to HTML5 for all modern browsers?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best PK-12 Education Cloud-Based Solution

Recognizes the best cloud-based solution that is always available to educational users regardless of location, is multi- platform and provides ubiquitous access to faculty, administration and students. Provides all applications and files for anywhere, anytime availability with an Internet connection, using devices at home or at school, from desktops to laptops to tablet or smartphones.

Judges will be looking for:

Cost-benefit - To what extent it there a cost-benefit to the user in providing the solution in the Cloud?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of enterprises, user needs and administrative outcomes?

Navigation - Can the user easily and efficiently navigate through the solution and interact with the key features?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to the user of various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reporting and analytics - Will the system produce useful analysis and reports for intended users?

Scalability - Does the feature set scale to meet the needs of education users?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best PK-12 Educational App for a Mobile Device

Recognizes the best curriculum or administrative native app, designed for either PK-12 or higher education markets, that is delivered via smartphones or tablets.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - Can the student monitor their progress? Can the teacher monitor/track/print student progress?

Benefit - To what extent is there a benefit to the user in providing this solution on a mobile device over other platform?

Customization - Is the app customizable for different types of mobile devices, user needs and outcomes?

Distribution - Is the app easily acquire/licensed and implemented by education institutions?

Innovation - Does the app incorporate recent research on screen design and user interests?

Navigation - Can the user easily and efficiently navigate through the app and interact with the key features?

Scalability - Does the feature set scale to meet the needs of education users?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the app's features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best Social-Emotional Development Solution

Recognizes the best digital product or service specifically designed to develop social emotional skills and knowledge for learners that contributes to their ability to successfully navigate daily activities and compensate for their invisible needs or disabilities. Includes applications that help learners develop social emotional skills also known as “non-cognitive skills” such as communicating and interacting with others, problem solving, self-regulation and setting and achieving goals.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge and skills in the targeted areas?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user? Will the reporting feature be user-friendly?

Best Source for Reference or Education Resources

Recognizes the service that best packages reference, original source materials, library or research information or disaggregated media assets for educational purposes in the PK-12 or higher education markets. This service can include content such as encyclopedias, maps, databases and primary source material.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of user needs and outcomes?

Navigation - Can the user easily and efficiently navigate through the solution and interact with the key features?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized for the user of various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reporting and analytics - Will the system produce useful analysis and reports for intended users?

Scalability - Does the feature set scale to meet the needs of education users?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their targeted results?

Best Student Assessment Solution

Recognizes the best application or solution for high-stakes assessments or for preparation for high-stakes tests in the PK-12 or higher education market and for use in either formative or summative assessments.

Judges will be looking for:

Able to be edited - Will teachers be able to change questions or instructions to meet student needs and fit with local school cultural differences?

Growth model - Does the solution provide the ability to follow and measure students' growth in learning in a number of years?

Innovation – Is this solution innovative in its approach?

Navigation - Can the user easily and efficiently navigate through the solution and interact with the key features?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized for the user of various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) Cloud-based should be added and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reporting and analytics - Will the system produce useful analysis and reports for intended users?

Scalability - Does the feature set scale to meet the needs of education users?

Support - Does the solution provide support for the educator/faculty? the solution customizable for different types of user needs and outcomes?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their targeted results?

Instructional

Best Coding & Computational Thinking Solution

Recognizes the best educational solution or platform that teaches students coding and computational skills, logic, problem solving, computer science, and algorithmic thinking. Solutions may include language platforms, robotics and coding courses, not excluding hardware options or a blend of hardware and software. Solutions should allow students to think creatively, reason systematically, work collaboratively and share their creations with others.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Evidence of success – Can you share your final product with others? Do you have a working product when done? Is there a comment field to share feedback with students?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning and standards around coding, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge of problem solving and computational thinking skills in the targeted areas?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user? To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user? (If N/A skip)

Transferability – How easily can you build code in one product and apply it to other products?

Best College & Career Readiness Solution

Recognizes the best digital product or service that develops 21st Century workforce skills and knowledge for students. Includes applications that help close the gap between a learner's current interest and skills and the needs and expectations in the workplace.

Judges will be looking for:

Accessibility / inclusivity - Does the product allow for all types of students?

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the learning solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation –Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best Creativity Tool for Students

Recognizes the service or platform with which students create their own animations, videos, interactive stories, art, and/or games. The best tool allows students to demonstrate understanding and critical and imaginative thinking and can be shared easily with audiences (teacher, class, beyond as appropriate). The process of creating will help the student process and apply their own knowledge through original works.

Judges will be looking for:

Adaptability - The tool is appropriate for students with diverse learning styles and abilities.

Effective use of technology – The product has an intuitive interface and is robust enough to support student use of multimedia elements if warranted.

Feedback - Student receives Channels for students to receive feedback and support in the process of creating documents, designs, projects or products from educators and peers.

Publishing, archiving and sharing – Student work can be easily shared through social media and/or the web. Students and educators can curate the work to create thematic exhibits.

Support - Information and support for users is effective and easy to find.

Best Cross-Curricular Solution

Recognizes the best software tool for students, educators or administrators that can be used in multiple curriculum areas in the PK-12 or higher education market. Includes productivity and creativity solutions that support learning across different courses or subject areas, such as document creation, graphic design, problem solving or web development.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge and skills in the targeted areas?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?

Best Emerging Instructional Technology Solution

Recognizes a new and innovative technology solution that is emerging to solve an instructional problem. It can change how students learn, increase their interest in learning or could open new delivery channels for instruction. All nominated products in this category must be less than three years old.

Judges will be looking for:

Applicability - Is this tool truly applicable to classrooms or learning centers?

Disruption – Does the tool have the potential to disrupt the education market in the future? Disruption should include long-term benefits or new outcomes.

Efficacy - Does the technology incorporate recent research on the learning process? These areas should be highlighted and show significant impact.

Impact – To what degree does the technology represent progressive developments within instructional functions for competitive advantage?

Innovation - Is this tool or its features actually new in its approach or implementation? Is there specific new, disruptive technology or methods that are clearly unique?

Learning Results - Could this tool help students gain a better understanding of learning concepts or increase cognitive skills and outcomes?

Relevance - How much is this technology needed in the education market? Include examples of the area(s) that could benefit – such as retention, comprehension, higher engagement and successful outcomes such as advancement, participation and experience.

Usability - How easily and efficiently can users interact with the product features to achieve the desired result? The user community should be clearly identified.

Best ESL, ELL or World Language Acquisition Solution

Recognizes the best instructional solution for English as a Second Language (ESL), English Language Learners (ELL), and World Languages for students in the PK-12 or higher education market. Includes course-based language learning curricula and content or online supplemental instruction.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes? Does it offer customized learning pathways for personalizing instruction.

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge and skills in the targeted areas?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user? Does it offer standards alignment for reporting student mastery of specific learning standards

Best Game-Based Curriculum Solution

Recognizes the best curriculum solution that uses gaming elements as an integral component of a curriculum or assessment product. Designed for PK-12 or higher education students to enable them to learn or apply concepts by using a compelling game environment that is academically and pedagogically sound.

Judges will be looking for:

Accessibility / inclusivity - Does the product allow for all types of students? (A product can’t be used within a school setting if it doesn’t follow certain legal standards. Students with hearing disabilities, English as a second language, etc.

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes? Is the content adaptive, increase or decrease in difficulty, in reaction to the student's ability?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Game design - Will the game design enhance or deepen student knowledge and skills in the targeted areas?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?

User experience (instructor) - is the game easy to implement or does it require training for the educator (can the instructor transition from a classroom type setting to a gaming type setting)?

User experience (student) - is the game easy to play (jump right in) or does it require training for the student?

Best Instructional Solution in Other Curriculum Areas

Recognizes the best application focusing on non-core curriculum areas for students in the PK-12 or higher education market. These areas include art, music, health, technology, engineering, vocational/career planning, or multi-disciplinary topics. Instructional solutions for computer science should nominate in the Best Coding & Computational Thinking Solution category.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users (including special needs and diverse students?)?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge, interest, and skills in the targeted areas?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?

Best Mathematics Instructional Solution

Recognizes the best instructional product that offers mathematics curriculum and content for students in the PK-12 or higher education market. It includes managed classroom/course-based instruction or online supplemental instruction for all student learners so they can learn and apply mathematics concepts and methods. The solution provides for deep and personalized learning experiences for students, supports standards alignment and reflects current curriculum practice.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different areas (adding, subtracting, geometry, algebra, etc.) within the content, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive immediate and/or appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge and skills in the targeted areas?

Integration - Does it provide straightforward methods for bringing in curriculum, third-party content, social media tools, internal data or standards information to provide the students with real life situations that are relatable to them?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Pre-Assessment – Does the solution allow for instructors to see where skills are at and help guide instruction with curriculum so that it challenges the users appropriately without frustrating them?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?

Usability – Does the solution allow for ease of use on various parts such as testing, lessons, and reports for those that may not have much technical experience/knowledge?

Best Professional Learning Solution for Faculty & Administrative Staff

Recognizes the best educational application or service designed to support PK-12 or higher education institutions and the educational needs/ professional development of faculty and administrative staff. Includes stand-alone or programs packaged with other products, and delivered through video or other means.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs, district needs and education outcomes? Does solution offers customized learning pathways for personalizing instruction?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user? Does it offer standards alignment for reporting student mastery of specific learning standards?

Best Reading/Writing/Literature Instructional Solution

Recognizes the best instructional solution for reading, writing or literature curricula and content for students in the PK-12 or higher education market. Includes solutions for learners at all levels, through managed classroom/course-based instruction or online supplemental instruction. Provides for deep and personalized learning experiences for students, supports standards alignment and reflects current curriculum practice.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate and/or immediate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge and skills in the targeted areas? Does it provide the students with real life situations that are relatable to them (i.e cultures, lifestyles, etc.)

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Pre-Assessment – Does the solution allow for instructors to see where skills are at and help guide instruction with curricula so that it challenges the users appropriately without frustrating them?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?​

Usability – Does the solution allow for ease of use on various parts such as testing, lessons, and reports for those that may not have much technical experience/knowledge?

Best Science Instructional Solution

Recognizes the best instructional solution for science and health curricula and content for students in the PK-12 or higher education market. Includes managed classroom/course-based instruction or online supplemental instruction for individuals. Provides for deep and personalized learning experiences for students, supports standards alignment and reflects current curriculum practice.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the solution incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge and skills in the targeted areas?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?

Best Social Sciences or Social Studies Instructional Solution

Recognizes the best instructional solution for social sciences / social studies curricula and content for students in the PK- 12 or higher education markets. Includes history, geography, government/political science, economics, etc. via managed classroom/course-based instruction, online supplemental instruction for individuals. Provides for deep and personalized learning experiences for students, supports standards alignment, and reflects current curriculum practice.

Judges will be looking for:

Accessibility – Does the solution meet the general accessibility requirements for students with disabilities, and/or provide information about how accommodations can be accessed.” Accessibility has become a very important issue for the institution that I

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge and skills in the targeted areas?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?

Best Solution for Special Needs Students

Recognizes the best application specifically designed to benefit students with unique educational needs, including those with physical or learning disabilities, those on the autism spectrum, or those who are gifted and talented in the PK-12 or higher education market. Includes solutions that are 508 compliant and provide instructional materials that are accessible or developed under the principals of universal design for learning (UDL).

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for the user?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of building their skills and strategies?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge and skills in the targeted areas?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization and the user?

K-12

Best Classroom Management Solution

Recognizes the best system designed for PK-12 educators. Includes classroom based student information systems, data management and reporting tools, gradebooks, standards (including Common Core) alignment tools and packages that link data and resources to instruction. District based information systems should nominate in the PK-12 Enterprise category.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization - Is the system customizable for different user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of education users?

Impact - Could the system produce a positive impact on the classroom management process?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Best K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution

Recognizes the best digital learning environment designed for K-12 educators and administrators to manage curriculum-based content, student access and use, diagnostic and remediation programs, data management and reporting tools. Enables the teacher to register, access and build course materials, communicate with students and acquire content.

Judges will be looking for:

Customization - Is the system customizable for different types of courses, user needs and education outcomes?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of education users?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Integration - Does it provide straightforward methods for bringing in social media tools, internal data, curriculum, third-party content (including apps) or standards information? How easily can you move existing content and assessments into this one?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Positive impact - Could the system produce a positive impact on course development and implementation and/or the student learning process?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for intended users?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Navigation - Can the user easily and efficiently navigate through the solution and interact with the key features?

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for intended users?

Usability - How easily and efficiently can the user interact with the product features and the content to achieve their desired result?

Pre-K

Best PreK / Early Childhood Learning Solution

Recognizes the best digital product providing or supporting learning for children ages 3-5. Includes applications designed for tablets and/or desktop computers, in areas such as pre-literacy and numeracy content, assessment and reporting, for use at home or in early childhood development settings.

Judges will be looking for:

Assessment - To what extent are the assessment tools useful and functional for this age user?

Customization - Is the solution customizable for different types of content areas, courses, user needs in the pre-K learning areas?

Feature set - Does the feature set incorporated within this product appropriately meet the needs of the users?

Feedback - Do learners with diverse learning styles and abilities receive appropriate feedback and reinforcement in the process of using the solution?

Innovation - Does the system incorporate recent research on learning, innovative approaches to learning, or access to new tools with high student interest?

Instructional design - Is the instruction and content designed to deepen student knowledge and skills in the targeted areas?

Is the product intended for early childhood education (Prek ages 3-5)? If no, provide a score of 1.

Platform flexibility - Is the solution optimized to be used on various platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, mobile, broadcast) and deliver various types of content (text, images, audio, video)?

Reports - Will the system produce useful reports for the organization, the parents and the user?